Scaling your Instagram account to its first 1,000 followers is actually pretty easy! As one of the most popular social media platforms today, Instagram offers creative individuals as well as businesses an excellent platform to demonstrate their skills while connecting with their target audience in real-time.
That being said, however, gaining traction on the platform, gaining followers organically, and reaching that all-important mark of 1,000 followers can be quite daunting, especially considering the sheer competition on the platform off-late and its ever-changing algorithm.
Once you cross this key milestone, however, the ball starts rolling for good, with substantial organic reach alone enough to start growing your account, provided you start posting quality content to keep your earned audiences engaged.
Whether you’re an emerging influencer, small business owner, or digital marketer, in this article, we lay out some tried-and-tested approaches to help you in scaling your Instagram account to its first 1,000 followers.
So keep up!
Best Strategies to Consider When Scaling Your Instagram Account
In the following, we reveal a handful of Instagram follower hacks pioneered by leading SMMAs to take your Insta presence to the next level, get more followers, and help you with scaling your Instagram account:
#1 Define Your Target Audience
As is the case with all marketing endeavors, it is good to have a clear picture of your audiences before diving in. Understand who your ideal followers are, their interests, demographics, and the content they engage with the most.
This knowledge will help shape your content strategy and ensure you attract the right audience. This further helps in determining the right time to post on Instagram, the right days, seasons, and more, depending on demographic trends.
This, of course, is often easier said than done, and the science behind defining audience personas is vast, worthy of entire textbooks or college courses, in order to truly master. However, a trial-and-error approach could work just as well, provided the marketers are committed to it.
#2 Optimize Your Profile
An Instagram profile has quietly turned into a virtual storefront, something that sets the stage for your brand or business. As such, it is crucial that you put in the time to optimize it to perfection.
This includes using a profile picture, bio, cover image, and everything else that revolves around a particular theme, followed by a prominent positioning of your main website or landing page URL to give a sense of authenticity to the profile.
In addition to this, successful profiles must give a lot of thought regarding keywords to improve their discoverability. You can play around with this, but it is recommended to stop before the line crosses into the realm of spam.
#3 Consistent & Quality Content
Consistency is key when it comes to growing your Instagram account. Develop a content strategy that includes a consistent posting schedule.
Create high-quality, visually appealing content that aligns with your brand and resonates with your target audience. Mix up your content formats, including photos, videos, Stories, and IGTV, to keep your audiences engaged.
Fortunately, churning out high-value content like clockwork is perfectly achievable today, thanks to the innumerable tools and services aimed at the same. If you can’t afford to hire a freelance designer to get things done, get creative with BeFunky and other similar tools to achieve the same results.
#4 Utilize Relevant Hashtags
Hashtags are instrumental in increasing your reach and attracting new followers. Research and use relevant hashtags that align with your content and target audience.
Mix popular and niche hashtags to maximize visibility while ensuring your posts stay visible in a sea of competition. You can use up to 30 hashtags per post, but keep them concise and relevant.
#5 Engage With The Community
Instagram is a social platform, and building a community requires active engagement. Interact with your followers by responding to comments, liking and commenting on their posts, and following accounts related to your niche.
Participate in relevant conversations and collaborations to increase visibility and establish relationships with influencers and potential followers.
#6 Leverage Instagram Stories
Instagram Stories offer an excellent opportunity to engage with your audience more authentically and casually.
Use features like polls, question stickers, and quizzes to encourage interaction. Share behind-the-scenes content, exclusive offers, and sneak peeks to keep your audience captivated and coming back for more.
#7 Cross-Promote On Other Platforms
Leverage your existing online presence by cross-promoting your Instagram account on other platforms.
Share your Instagram content on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other social media channels.
Utilize email newsletters, blog posts, and website banners to encourage your audience to follow you on Instagram.
#8 Collaborate With Influencers
Influencer marketing can be a powerful tool for growing your Instagram following. Identify influencers in your niche using influencer marketing platforms with a similar target audience and collaborate on content or promotions.
Influencers can introduce your account to their followers, expanding your reach and attracting new followers who are already interested in your niche.
#9 Run Instagram Contests & Giveaways
Contests and giveaways on Instagram are proven to boost engagement and attract new followers.
Create enticing offers and ask participants to follow your account, like, comment, or share your post to enter. Ensure your prizes are relevant to your audience to attract genuinely interested followers.
#10 Track & Analyze Your Results
Track your progress and analyze your efforts to understand what’s working and what needs improvement.
Utilize Instagram’s built-in analytics or third-party tools to monitor your follower growth, engagement rate, and content performance. Adjust your strategies accordingly to optimize your results.
With a consistent approach, the above-mentioned approach can ensure any account, in any niche can scale past 1,000 followers within just a few short weeks.
It takes a lot of work to successfully accomplish this, but the end result is often worth it since an Instagram account is nothing short of an asset for your business.
It is also possible to outsource this work to third-party agencies, who offer organic growth services, but make sure to be careful while choosing the right service.
Final Words
If you’re hoping to break through the noise on Instagram as a new account or business account owner you’ll need more than just stunning photos or an interesting brand. You’ll need a plan!
The first step in scaling your Instagram account, as always, is to get a clear understanding of your target audiences, and once that’s done, the content mix will start falling into place for regular publishing.
The above-mentioned tips and tricks are great for getting the ball rolling and scaling your Instagram account, but ultimately, you should be able to come up with your own playbook that best serves your business and its target audiences on the platform.
